Onto Kufue National Park - islands with seas of hippo!

An early start and we headed back to Livingstone airport for our flights to Shumba lodge in the northern part of Kufue National Park. The camp lies out on the Busanga flood plain and as such is completely inaccessible during the rains and even in the dry season it is quite a safari to get there.

The airfield lies on higher ground and we had to fly from there to the camp in a helicopter which was really amazing and saved us a ground trip of several hours.  The Park is huge, covering an area of 22,500 square kilometers and some describe it as Zambia’s Okovango because of the marshes and channels with islands etc. But besides the flood plains and lakes there is also extensive miombo woodland, mopane woodland and dry grassland so a whole range of habitats can be explored here.

Phoebe loved the camp and I must say it was great. There are six rooms located around large fig trees and palms on an island and we had wonderful views out over the plains which were filled with Lechwe and Puku antelope. Not only that but the management, guides and staff were warm, attentive, professional and fun.

The open grasslands are studded with islands which probably originally grew out of termite mounds and these are covered in trees and palms. The flood plain is mostly grassland with channels holding permanent water and these provide refuge for crocs and hippo.

 We explored one of these channels in the camp’s boat and got some really good views of the resident hippo.

We also found the local pride of lions, saw buffalo, elephant and most exciting for me the rare roan antelope.

This is the only park in Zambia where cheetah can be found and there are also sable antelope here. The helicopter is based here permanently and as well as providing a taxi service from the airfield is available for hire to explore the park from the air, an effective and exhilarating way to get an overview of the country. There is also a balloon which provides another airborne platform to enjoy the grassy plains and the wildlife.